It's Not a Wonderful Life
by Spidershadow5
Summary: The New Avengers are pretty well-off right now. Multiple new recruits, including a former enemy, have boosted their power, and public opinion couldn't be better. Naturally, something is wrong. The problem is, Vision is the only one who realizes it. Pre Civil War.
1. Chapter 1: Nothing as it Seems

Avengers: It's Not a Wonderful Life

Chapter 1: Nothing as it Seems

 **New Avengers Facility**

Being a synthetic being powered by an Infinity Stone, the Vision technically did not require sleep. However, he liked to do so anyway, as it made him feel closer to his actually human teammates, doing what they did. At the moment, he was lying on his back with his eyes closed. His body had shifted, with his cape gone so as not to be uncomfortable. The light from the Mind Stone had dimmed, leaving his quarters in total darkness. No thoughts drifted across Vision's mind as the sun rose into the sky outside.

His serenity was interrupted by the door suddenly swinging open, followed by a greyish-blue blur that zipped inside, and poked him in one of his closed eyes.

"Rise and shine, flying man," laughed Pietro Maximoff, "We've got work to do." He then dashed outside, leaving Vision holding a hand to his own eyeball.

Sighing to himself, the cyborg stretched as he rolled off the bed, planting both feet firmly on the ground. He willed his molecular structure to alter once more, recreating his signature golden cape, then exited the room. Across the hall, Wanda Maximoff had been the victim of a similarly rude awakening from her twin, and was just now greeting the day, having dressed quickly. She stretched both of her arms to the ceiling with a large yawn, bringing a smile to Vision's face.

"Good morning, Wanda," he said, pleasantly, "I trust you slept well."

"As well as possible in this boot camp," Wanda shrugged, remembering the particularly strenuous exercises Captain Rodgers and Agent Romanoff had put them through this week. The new team of Avengers, although possessing impressive power, with nine members as opposed to six, had yet to truly function as an effective team. Thankfully, no potentially apocalyptic scenarios had come up against them thus far.

"I could always try greasing up the good Captain's shield," chuckled Loki, strolling down the hall past them, "Might lighten up the mood a bit." He still wore his ostentatious helmet, but also a green t-shirt and blue jeans. As a result, he looked completely ridiculous, but nobody ever called him out on it. Mostly because he wouldn't listen if they did.

"Somehow, I feel like Steve would disapprove, not to mention Ellen," said Sam Wilson, already up and suited for training. Once a soldier, always a soldier.

The quartet made their way towards the meeting room for breakfast, where they were met by their remaining comrades. Captain America, up early as well, having already eaten. Black Widow, standing by the doorway to the training room, sizing up her allies in a way nobody would notice unless they were expecting it. Colonel Rhodes, already suited up as War Machine, standing at attention. Pietro Maximoff, sorting through the fridge to feed his superhuman metabolism.

At the head of the table stood their newest member, Ellen Ripper, Loki's lover, dressed in her flashy costume, consisting of a bright purple top with a five pointed star logo, and black pants, along with an oval shaped grey stone, held around her neck by a length of chain. Ellen was fairly young, barely out of college, with long black hair, deep blue eyes, and an impressive muscular build. However, she'd managed to prove her usefulness to the team, with super strength, telekinesis, flight, and the ability to fire explosive bursts of energy. Ellen had joined up with the team right before the Ultron incident, preventing Loki's attempts to silently assassinate the remaining Avengers. Loki had become so taken with her, he'd decided to serve humans instead of kill them, and as a result, they'd both been perfect candidates for the new Avengers team. She'd even managed to save Pietro's life during the Sokovia incident.

"Look alive, people," chuckled Steve, noticing the still sleepy Wanda and Ellen, who were doing a poor job concealing it, "We've got to run through the takedown regimens today."

"Aw, come on, Steve!" chuckled Ellen, as Loki wrapped his arms around her shoulders, "Haven't we been through enough lately?"

"We haven't had a single mission this week," snorted Natasha, "When you've lived as many near death scenarios as I have, then you can complain."

Ellen would've retorted, had not an alarm begun to blare throughout the facility. The telltale red lights began to flash, burning into the vision of the assembled Avengers. Resigning to a day without a full breakfast, Wanda, Sam, Ellen, and Loki grabbed some loose snacks Pietro hadn't eaten from the fridge, before rushing to the briefing room after the others. Vision didn't miss the dirty look that Loki shot him for not having to eat, but it made him laugh more than anything.

Arriving in the conference room, they were greeted by Maria Hill, suited up and prepared for the day. "Nice to see you all functioning," she snarked, "We've got an alert." She pressed a button on a small, black remote, activating the projector screen directly behind her. The image revealed was the headquarters of the United Nations. What immediately caught everyone's eyes, of course, were the multiple soldiers standing around the building, all armed with very large guns. In addition, several large tank-like cars were aiming their weapons directly at the building. Multiple soldiers were equipped with blue armor, with cannons built into one arm. Standing over them was a man wearing a costume with a black cowl that extended into a cape, white body armor and boots, with the rest of his clothes colored black. The screen flashed before switching to a new scene inside the building, where guards had armed themselves and were prepared to defend various world leaders, while trying to keep them calm.

"This was sent to the government not long ago," said Hill, reading from a notice on her tablet, "Anti-patriotic terrorists. They're demanding that all countries immediately destroy all symbols of their own individuality and unite under 'one world order', or everyone in the building will die."

"Uh, don't they realize that Hydra already tried it, and it's not going to work here either?" pointed out Sam, "What is this, an 80's cartoon?"

"They may not be very bright," agreed Hill, "But they're armed, and definitely dangerous." She then brought up the profile of the costumed man, along with his mugshot. "Our leader is Karl Morgenthau, A.K.A. Flag-Smasher. Responsible for inciting multiple anti-nationalist movements across three continents. Not really one for violent terrorism, but that seems to have changed.."

"Meta-human?" asked Steve, reflexively.

"Thankfully, no," responded Hill, "But that doesn't make his thugs any less of a real threat. The military detail can't handle this, so it falls to us. Simple job: Get in, knock 'em out, make sure nobody dies."

"Sounds like a plan!" cheered Ellen.

* * *

 **The Quinjet**

Not much was said on the flight to New York City. Everybody was too busy cramming down whatever food they'd managed to pilfer on the way out, or psyche themselves up for the mission at hand. Steve and Natasha had it easy, having years of being Avengers behind them. Rhodey and Sam were fine as well, as they were both experienced soldiers. They were nervous, of course, but they knew how to manage those fears.

The newcomers were not so lucky. While Wanda had overcome most of her fears thanks to Clint's rousing speech in Sokovia, she still wasn't accustomed to saving lives and taking down criminals. She merely sat quietly on the bench of the jet, red energy flowing between her hands, as if she were unsure what to do with them. Vision, while not as panicked as she, wasn't immune to the newcomer anxiety. Perhaps he had it even worse, as he was still becoming acquainted with actually having emotions. He paced the middle of the jet, his hands behind his back, looking down at his feet.

Seeing their companions' unstable emotional states, the other Avengers made sure to step in. Pietro, always there for his twin, grasped one of her hands, giving a reassuring squeeze. Wanda looked up into his smiling face, which conveyed more than he could ever say. She wanted to return the expression, but her the pain in her heart grew even greater at the sight of his face, for reasons she didn't comprehend. She ignored the feeling, dismissing it as more nerves.

Ellen was currently holding Loki's hand, but moved away from him when she noticed Vision's body language. She grasped his shoulder, giving him a kind, peaceful look, as if trying to assure him. Vision blinked, not quite sure how to react. He eventually settled on giving a nervous smile back to her, looking straight into her eyes, as her stone pulsed with silver light...

 _He'd been knocked out of the sky, and the pain was constant all over his body. He tried to rise to his feet, but an invisible force pinned him down. Looking up, he saw a figure descending from the sky, eyes glowing bright silver, reaching for his head with both hands..._

A fierce bolt of pain shot across his mind, and Vision involuntarily grunted, grabbing the sides of his head. The Mind Stone briefly flared bright gold, and he collapsed into a seat, rubbing his temples to relieve the pain. Noticing this, Captain America got up and moved over to him.

"You okay, Vis?" he asked.

"If you're not, you should probably sit this one out," said Natasha from the pilot's seat.

Vision looked up at Ellen, who seemed to be looking at him with a look that mixed concern with disbelief. However, the disbelief aspect faded so quickly Vision decided he must have imagined it, along with the glowing of her stone, which was doing no such thing.

"I-it's nothing," he responded, "I believe it's just the anxiety interfering with my Mind Stone. I'll be fine."

"Well, if you're sure," said Captain America.

* * *

 **United Nations Headquarters**

"No sign of any approaching hostiles," reported Mason into his microphone. He shifted nervously as he stood guard at the edge of the plaza, never taking his hands off of his rifle. Mason had signed up with Flag-Smasher in good faith, seeing nationalist pride as something that forced countries to hate each other, and eventually led to war. However, he hadn't expected the protests to get this violent, or go far enough to attempt taking dozens of assembled world leaders hostage. Still, he convinced himself that it would ultimately work out for the best, and nobody would get hurt.

And that was when the grey blur sped into him, smashing the butt of his gun into his face. Mason was unconscious before he hit the ground.

There were about two dozen soldiers armed with assault rifles stationed in front of the U.N. plaza. Pietro took them all out in less than three seconds, knocking them around like bowling pins. In a few more seconds, he'd sorted the dazed criminals and their weapons into two neat little piles.

"Showoff," muttered Sam, as he and Rhodey flew in over the battlefield.

With their first line of defense down, the armored soldiers stepped in to take the fight to the Avengers. Noticing the two fliers above them, several raised their arm blasters and opened fire, launching small artillery shells, grenades, and other ordinances. However, War Machine and the Falcon had dealt with much greater threats, as well as better shots, and dodged the assault with little difficulty.

The blasts eventually ceased, however, as the arrival of two attack helicopters made it unnecessary. Swearing under his breath, Sam swooped into a steep dive to avoid the barrage of minigun fire that came at him. Swerving around to face the side of the first chopper, Sam fired a single missile from his pack, aimed directly at the tail, where it exploded, sending the aircraft careening towards the ground. Rhodey zoomed underneath and grabbed on, slowing it's descent to ensure it didn't land on anybody. The process was repeated on the second chopper, with similar success.

The remaining soldiers turned their attention to the grounded Avengers, immediately pelting them with bullets and explosives, only to receive a shock as the weapons went right through them. The illusions faded, revealing a grinning Loki, and Wanda, whose force-field had blocked all damage. Ellen swooped down, taking down the first armored soldier with a silver burst of energy, destroying the suit's power core. Vision opted for a more subtle method, phasing his hand through the back of the suit to simply tear the power supply out.

Desperate to save their heavy artillery, the tank cars swerved around, aiming their impressive cannons at the fighting Avengers. Fortunately, their aim was thrown off by Loki, who conjured up more illusions of all of his comrades. The cars fired into the crowd of Avengers, only to have their drivers swear in frustration as the explosions passed harmlessly through the fakes. In response, Wanda, Vision, and Ellen sent beams of red, yellow, and silver energy back at them, blasting away their weapons, followed by their wheels. They wouldn't be going anywhere.

With the flashier Avengers doing the heavy lifting, Steve and Natasha slipped behind the enemy's front line to attack the reserves, along with the leader. Steve's shield went spinning forward, clocking the first on the skull, before he caught and hurled it again, bouncing it off the wall of the U.N. building to impact another soldier in the back, right between the shoulder blades. Natasha fired multiple electric charges through her Widow's Bite, hitting the guns of the soldiers and sending electrical currents into them through their weapons. One tried to play smart and dropped his gun, but the Black Widow dropped to her side, swinging her foot up to catch him on the temple, knocking him out.

Flag-Smasher, at the sight of the Avengers charging into his soldiers, roared with fury, charging towards Captain America. He threw his strongest punch, but it was easily blocked by the ever-present Vibranium shield. Steve then retaliated with a spinning kick, sending his opponent onto his back, but Morgenthau quickly recovered. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he reached into his belt, drawing out a grey pistol attached to a long tube, leading to his back. Pulling the trigger sent a stream of white-hot flames directly towards Steve and Natasha, who backflipped away from the burning embers.

"He's got some kind of body armor," Steve said into his earpiece, "Not vibranium, but pretty durable. Some kind of flamethrower gun."

"Not exactly Iron Man, is he?" responded Wanda, telekinetically hurling two armored soldiers into each other.

"ROGERS!" roared Morgenthau, cutting off Steve's response. Flag-Smasher hurled a grenade at the Captain, forcing Steve to raise his shield once more. The blast was blocked, but the force that the vibranium failed to absorb sent the Captain flying backwards, sprawling onto his stomach. Steve attempted to scramble to his feet, but Flag-Smasher was upon him, kicking him right in the head several times.

"You represent everything that's wrong with this world!" shouted Morgenthau again, "You claim to protect all people, but you wear the colors of a single country! So long as you exist, so long as countries continue to force people apart, there will never be peace! Only war!" He pulled a heavy, spiked mace from his belt. "Captain America has to die!"

Steve rolled backwards to avoid the crushing blow that came down exactly where his head had been mere moments before. Ellen came zooming towards Flag-Smasher, clocking him on the head with a roundhouse punch, sending him crumbling to his knees before circling around to attack him again.

"Man, this guy has cornier lines than Thor-" she started. Unfortunately for Ellen, Flag-Smasher had largely rolled with the punch, and had faked being more injured. When she came back around, he swung his mace in an arc, dealing her a clubbing blow to the gut. The girl was sent spinning out of the air, crashing to the ground.

"ELLEN!" shouted Loki, running over to her. Flag-Smasher grinned with pure malice, raising his flamethrower, pointing it directly at the two Avengers. His fingers started to squeeze the trigger...only to meet nothing when the weapon was snatched out of his hand by stray wisps of red energy. He spun around, watching as the pistol was torn from the cable, flying into Wanda Maximoff's outstretched hand.

"Girl!" Moregenthau shouted, charging towards Wanda with his mace primed, "You're interfering in things you don't understand!" Wanda merely smirked, not bothering to dodge or try to stop Flag-Smasher. Her reason became apparent a second later, when Vision dropped out of the sky, directly in the path of the swinging mace. As he did, he increased his molecular density, to the point where the weapon shattered on impact.

"Mr. Morgenthau," the synthezoid said calmly, "Please consider surrendering. We have no desire to harm you any more." Flag-Smasher looked around, noticing that the rest of his soldiers had been taken down by the remaining Avengers. There was absolutely no way he could win. Of course, that fact of life wasn't going to stop him from trying.

"My cause is just," he snarled, putting up both fists, "And if I must die to prove that, so be it!" He prepared to throw a punch, only to be cut off by Steve's shield, which slammed right into his armpit, knocking him to the side, into the waiting arms of Natasha Romanoff. She swung her electric baton upwards, sticking Flag-Smasher right in the back of the neck. He was out cold before he hit the ground.

"Well," said Steve, retrieving his shield, "That could've gone so much worse."

"Are you kidding?!" shouted Loki, "He hurt Ellen! He-"

"Relax, honey," Ellen insisted, sitting up, "I'm okay." She looked down at her stomach. Her skin was more durable than most, but not impenetrable. The mace had cut into her in a few places, but overall, she looked fine.

"You should still be examined by a medic," insisted Vision.

"I'm on it!" called Pietro, grabbing Ellen and zooming off before any of them could blink.

"I'm beginning to see why Barton doesn't like that guy..." muttered Loki.

* * *

 **Quinjet**

"Yes, sir, you're welcome. The Avengers are happy to provide their services...Thank you for the offer, sir, but we need to investigate, find out who sold Morgenthau his tech..." Natasha continued to drone into the phone. She'd been speaking to various officials who they'd saved for over two hours until they took off, due to the seemingly endless fountain of gratitude they spouted. Even firing up the jet hadn't ensured the Avengers escape, as their phone number was commonly held by people in positions of power. It wasn't that Natasha or any of the team disliked the gratitude, but it was something they'd gotten a lot of recently, and it was easily tiring.

Wanda and Pietro sat on one side of the Quinjet, with Loki and Ellen on the other. Sam, Rhodey, Natasha, and Vision were sitting in various positions around the jet, while Steve piloted once more. Ellen's injuries had been deemed mostly superficial, and she would only need to take it a bit easy in the coming days. No doubt she would lord her freedom from the most grueling of training over the rest of the Avengers.

"You bet you won't be straining yourself," Loki proclaimed, hugging Ellen. Vision raised one eyebrow, still trying to understand human behavior.

"I'm just saying, if you'd let me take care of them all, it would've been over much quicker," Pietro insisted, to the laughter of his twin.

"You do remember how well that went down when you tried to save Clint in Sokovia, remember?" Wanda joked back, "It's not like Ellen will always be around to save your hide."

 _Sokovia...Pietro..._

Vision's head suddenly exploded with pain. He roared in agony, clutching both sides of his head as the Mind Stone flared with light. The android fell to his knees, rolling into a fetal position. He had a vague awareness of Wanda and the others rushing to his aid, but he could not hear their voices. His mind was occupied with processing the sudden onslaught of images that assaulted his brain.

 _He heard Wanda's anguished cry as he tore another Ultron sentinel apart. Though emotions were still strange to him, he knew sadness. Only the death of Wanda's twin could've brought her to such misery. He needed to find her, before her grief drove her to give up her own life...  
_

 _He was standing outside the New Avengers compound, but wreckage was scattered everywhere, and trees were burning. Steve and Natasha, both unconscious, sat on the ground. as a figure outlined in silver light touched both of their skulls. He flew down to try and stop the figure, Sam and Rhodey by his side, but several large energy blasts came up to meet them. Sam's pack was damaged,but an invisible force gripped him in midair, pulling him down to the figure. Vision and Rhodey were not so fortunate, as they both were sent bouncing across the grass. From his place of injury, he looked up to see Wanda, red energy flaring, as she charged towards the figure..._

 _"It's okay...I'm your friend...this is for the best..."_

"Vision!"

Vision's eyes shot open once more. Natasha, Loki, Pietro, Sam, Rhodey, and Wanda were all gathered around him, looks of concern filling all of their faces. Wanda in particular looked almost white with panic. Looking over at the bench, he saw Ellen, looking as ghastly as the rest, clutching her stone so hard her knuckles turned white. It was a nervous habit she did whenever something stressful truly got to her. At least, he thought it was...

Wanda held out one hand. "Can you stand?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Vision grasped her hand, his other one placed flat against the Mind Stone. "I...I think so," he replied, as he wobbled to his feet. The pain seemed to be gone, and the memories no longer rushed to his mind, but he felt disoriented and awkward. "I...I"m sorry, I don't know what's happening to me..."

"Neither do we," responded Sam, "But maybe Wanda should look at you when we get back, get inside that space rock. It's not like a normal doctor could do much for you."

"I don't know," Ellen suddenly spoke up, "Are we sure he's actually sick? I mean, his anatomy's completely unique. Maybe this is just normal for him?" There seemed to be a glimmer of hope in her voice, like she was praying her words were the truth.

Natasha looked at her oddly. "Not impossible, but we shouldn't rule anything out. Wanda's the only one who can access the depths of the Mind Stone. We need to be sure."

"O-okay..." Ellen responded. Vision looked at her, unable to decipher exactly what she was feeling right now, but he said nothing. He had some ideas as to why she reacted the way she did, but they were less than ideal.

* * *

 **New Avengers Compound**

Since there was nothing they could do for Vision, the rest of the Avengers made the decision to congregate in the "War Room." Flag-Smasher may have been imprisoned, but someone had sold him some pretty impressive weapons technology, and it was their job to find out who. Hydra seemed like the most probable candidate, but they weren't the only ones on the black market.

Vision and Wanda, meanwhile, had relocated to Vision's room in order to perform the "operation," the reason being that Vision would be more comfortable there. Vision sat on his bed, while Wanda pulled up a loose chair.

"Alright," said Wanda, red energy coalescing around her fingers already, "I'm not sure where we should start with this, but-"

"Wanda," Vision cut her off, raising his hands. He glanced around quickly, before beckoning her to lean towards him. "I think something's wrong," he whispered.

"Well, yes," she responded, matter-of-factly, "You're experiencing migraines that have something to do with the Mind Stone."

"No!" Vision insisted, looking her right in the eye, "Something unusual is happening in this facility, and I think it's connected to Ellen."

Wanda blinked, looking at Vision incredulously. "I honestly doubt that," she responded, "I think this suspicion is just brought on by-"

"No!" Vision almost shouted, "I...I don't know how to put it into words, but something's wrong about her. She seems...like she doesn't fit in with my memories. I remember her being there, even when I was J.A.R.V.I.S., but...it doesn't feel right. When I look at her, sometimes there are flashes of...I don't know what, where the team is being attacked by a figure, which I don't remember happening. And she's not the only problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Like..." Vision mumbled, "Loki. He feels...wrong. I only met him when he threatened Tony in the original tower, back when Jarvis was just a program, but he doesn't behave normally. He just fell in love with Ellen and gave up trying to rule Midgard? And we all accepted that? Then there's your brother. When you spoke about him getting saved by Ellen in Sokovia, I had an...image, in my mind, I'm not sure if it was a memory. But he died saving Clint-"

Vision was cut off by tendrils of red energy completely smothering the front of his body. The synthezoid was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall behind his bed. Wanda glared at him, fury evident in her eyes as she restrained him. After a few seconds, she seemed to calm down, releasing her grip.

"I'm sorry..." she mumbled, "Just...never say that."

"I apologize, but..think about what you feel when you look at him," Vision said, trying to break the ice, "I saw you looking at him on the Quinjet, gripping his hand. You told me that you do that for reassurance, but you looked even more upset at the time."

Wanda placed both hands on her forehead, trying to keep the fearful thoughts from coming to the surface. The awful truth was that Vision was correct. For the past few days, every time she looked at her twin, she felt bursts of pain and sorrow, rather than the just calm and serenity he usually brought. She'd been ignoring them, trying to pass them off as stress, but it was clear that something else was the cause. Her memories in the aftermath of Ultron's attack felt strange, as well. She remembered celebrating, but it felt empty and unnatural. The scene played in her memories like an unfinished movie, with words coming out of her mouth that she wouldn't consider saying.

"What are you asking me to do?" she finally said.

"I need you to delve deep into my memories," Vision answered, "Particularly those related to Ellen. There must be something I can't find."

Wanda opened her mouth to object, but no words came forth. Vision was definitely correct about her feelings towards Pietro. If there was any possibility his memories could uncover the reason, she had to make an attempt. With those thoughts in mind, she nodded, before focusing her powers. The familiar red energy pooled around her fingers, before her eyes began to glow the same color. A tendril of light snapped up, right into Vision's temple.


	2. Chapter 2: Illusions Unveiled

Chapter 2: Illusions Unveiled

 _Sokovia was rising._

 _Wanda knew she was supposed to be searching for answers concerning Ellen, but she was unable to stop herself. For her, the most important problem was closer to home. Vision claimed he had a flashback to Pietro dying here. No matter how much it hurt, she had to know if the Pietro back in the compound was...she didn't know what._

 _Going through Vision's memories, she was flying through the air, looking through his vibranium eyes. This was immediately after Stark, Thor, Vision, and Ellen had burned Ultron's vibranium armor away, and Hulk had sent him flying. At this particular moment, Vision was hunting sentries that had attempted to flee after the apparent defeat of their master. Vision soared through the sky, sending bolts of energy through the Mind Stone, zipping past Colonel Rhodes as he did so. He phased his hands through one more sentry's chest, before solidifying them and ripping the metal construct apart._

 _With those taken care of, he turned his gaze back towards the flying city. The remaining civilians had been loaded onto the transports, preparing for movement to the main Helicarrier. Suddenly, his eyes caught a flash of movement. Clint has rushed out from the safety of the vehicle, dashing across the street to retrieve a small boy who had failed to board. In a second, he had the child in his arms._

 _The sound of jet engines caused Clint to turn towards the end of the street. Floating high above was the Avengers' Quinjet, piloted by the weakened Ultron. The metal bird's main gun opened fire, the rain of bullets approaching Clint. Wanda felt Vision's thoughts from the event, as he had been panicking. The android flew as fast as he could towards Clint, but he knew that reaching his teammate in time was physically impossible. He didn't even had a clear shot at the Quinjet. He (and by extension, she) could see the silver blur that was Pietro, rushing to save the archer, but even with his current speed, he would still be pelted by bullets._

 _Before the onslaught of metal death could reach Clint and Pietro, a silver light slammed straight into the side of the Quinjet. Ultron's aim was thrown off, bullets sent into the crumbling buildings off to the side instead. With a burst of speed, Pietro had snatched both Clint and the boy, yanking them to the side, standing surprised at his lack of injuries. Both Avengers looked up, noticing Ellen flying past, giving the thumbs-up. Both smiled and waved, before rushing off to the transport._

 _Wanda, feeling relieved that her suspicions turned out to be false, was about to move on from this memory, when she heard a faint noise. It was barely there, like the dying breath of an echo as it disperses into the air, but she was sure she'd heard it. The sound made her heart nearly stop beating._

 _"_ You didn't see that coming?" _It was the voice of her brother. He had not said those words. Not in the memory she'd just witnessed._

 _Frantic, Wanda mentally ordered the memory to rewind, watching it again. Pietro's mouth hadn't even moved when those words were spoken. Now that she took a long look at it, there were other inconsistencies in the memory. Ellen flew far faster that Wanda could remember ever seeing her, and farther than her estimated maximum in the Avengers' database. She certainly wouldn't be able to outrun Pietro. The bullets from the chopper didn't leave any pits in the bricks that they struck after Ellen threw the jet off target. Something was wrong with the memory._

 _Wanda extended her mental reach, feeling around the memory for any alterations, anything that could be wrong. She grew more and more frustrated, until a faint gold light, so similar to that of the Mind Stone, flashed through the memory. It's glow revealed a faint outline of silver light, like a sheet of paper covering a beacon, obscuring the memory. What she had been watching was nothing more than a projected fake. Trembling, Wanda's mind reached out, seized the cover, and slowly peeled it away from the memory. Bracing herself, she reset the memory._

 _The events began to play out exactly the same as previously. Clint went out to save the child, Ultron opened fire, and Vision failed to reach him. Pietro came sprinting out to help the archer, and Wanda held her breath as she waited for Ellen to save him._

 _But the girl did not come. The onslaught of bullets continued to approach Clint._

 _Wanda's heart stopped beating as she watched the events unfold. Pietro snagged Clint and the boy away from Ultron's incoming fire, coming to a stop a few feet away. But as he stood, pockets of blood began to drip out of various holes on his body, bullet wounds becoming visible. Soon the majority of his body had been bleached crimson. He looked Clint Barton in the eye, and weakly spoke his last words._

 _"_ You didn't see that coming?" _Then he fell. Dead._

 _Wanda screamed, the knowledge she didn't want to know assaulting her brain. Vision's memory heard the same scream, coming from the church where memory Wanda protected the core. Even worse, it began to cause a chain reaction, an electric connect the dots adding more and more suppressed memories to her mind. She recalled the instant Pietro died, feeling the bullets he'd taken ripping through her own heart, as one half of her own soul was burned away. She recalled her scream of agony, her own magic tearing apart Ultron sentinels in the process, so loud Vision heard it from across the flying city. She recalled hunting the crashed and weakened Ultron down, ripping out his own heart in kind. She recalled feeling Sokovia fall, caring not that she was about to die, but having Vision save her all the same. Vision's memory of the event played out, as he carried her from the improvised meteor._

 _Just as it had on that day, the grief began to dilute from Wanda's heart, replaced by sheer, boundless, rage. Pietro was dead. An imposter had taken his place, used his name, dared to claim to be him, or believe that it was him. She knew that only one person could be responsible for the atrocity. The same person who had tampered with their memories. Wanda began sorting through Vision's memories, tearing away the covers as she found them, discarding them like used tape, to find anything related to Ellen._

 _After a minute, she found what she wanted._

* * *

 _The alert had come very late into the night. The New Avengers had been preparing to sleep when the alarms began to blare, signaling the attack on the compound. Captain America and the others had immediately suited up, not counting on the small security detail to take down anyone confident enough to attack the Avengers on their home turf. He turned out to be correct, as the guards all been knocked unconscious, sitting around the apparent intruder, inside the lobby._

 _She stood watching the Avengers, a calm smile visible on her face. Her hands glowed bright silver, along with the oval-shaped stone hanging around her neck. From inside Vision's mind, Wanda was not the least bit surprised to recognize Ellen._

 _"_ You're trespassing, young lady," _said Rogers, keeping his gaze trained on her,_ "I'd advise you to surrender."

"I'm not your enemy," _Ellen replied,_ "But I hope you'll forgive me for what I'm about to do. Greater good and all that, ya know?"

 _She put both hands in front of her. Her palms pulsed, and blasts of silver light stabbed forward, launching directly towards the Avengers. All immediately dived to the side, with Natasha tossing a few of her taser disks, and Steve hurling his shield. Ellen, of course, simply waved her hands, freezing the dangerous projectiles in midair, causing them to clatter to the ground._

 _Through Vision's eyes, Wanda watched as her memory self gathered a massive ball of red energy between her hands, before thrusting her palms forward, launching a beam of concentrated red energy. Ellen flew upwards to avoid the attack, but this tactic had been anticipated, and several electrical charges from Natasha's Widow's Bite struck her in the chest. Steve leaped at her from the side, tackling Ellen to the ground._

 _Unfortunately, this only seemed to irritate the woman. Ellen suddenly rocketed at full speed towards the window, taking the Captain with her. The two smashed through the glass, sending glass shards in all directions. Outside, the scene was chaotic. The drones created to monitor and defend the compound after the Ant-Man incident lay in heaps on the ground, and fire had torched some of the surrounding greenery. Steve only had a second to take this all in, before he was seized by Ellen's telekinetic grip, and hurled through the air. He collided with Natasha, knocking them both around, before Ellen grabbed them both once more. Rhodey, Sam, and the others rushed to help their comrades, but more bursts of silver light drove them back._

 _With Captain America and Black Widow in her grip, Ellen took a deep breath. Her stone suddenly flared with light, outlining her entire body in silver. Reaching out, Ellen touched Steve and Natasha on their foreheads, sending silver energy straight into their skulls. From Vision's vantage point, Wanda could see that their eyes rolled back in their sockets, before the two simply passed out. Ellen laid them down, gently, on the grass._

"Sorry it had to be this way," _said the woman,_ "But you'll thank me later."

"Leave them alone!" _Wanda heard herself roar. The memory Wanda sent another flurry of red blasts straight towards Ellen, who flew into the air to avoid them. The woman retaliated with another tightly focused burst of silver, sending memory Wanda flying across the grass._

 _Ellen turned her gaze upwards. Rhodey, Sam, and Vision were now diving down upon her, Rhodey having drawn his taser baton. Vision fired a blast from the Mind Stone, but Ellen blocked it with a barrier in midair. She responded with more blasts, knocking the trio of Avengers out of the sky. Falcon, being unprotected, was mercifully snatched by her telekinesis before he hit the ground. War Machine was sent bouncing like a stone on a river, along with Vision, obscuring current Wanda's sight of Ellen._

 _When the android finally came to a stop, he looked up to see Ellen, who'd pried War Machine's face shield off. She touched him, just as she'd touched the others, and Rhodey was sent into unconsciousness. Sam had already fallen victim to her spell. Vision tried to rise from his position, but Ellen mentally slammed him down, knocking the wind out of him._

"You don't understand," _said Ellen, staring at him with an expression Wanda recognized as pity,_ "It's okay, I'm your friend-"

"That's what they all say," _said a familiar voice. Ellen and Vision turned around. Wanda had recovered from the previous attack, her magic coalescing around her fingers once more._

 _Almost reluctantly, perhaps out of annoyance over the Avengers' continued resistance, or no real desire to actually harm the Avengers, Ellen sent another attack towards Wanda, but this one was avoided. Wanda sent her magic energy into the ground, lifting herself into the air, before descending down onto Ellen. The woman raised her fists, but Vision flew straight at her, grabbing her around the torso. Seizing her limbs, he increased his density, raising his strength, and soon had the woman in an iron-hard grip. At the same time, Wanda enveloped Ellen in red mist, binding her._

"She's not going anywhere," _Vision reported._

 _Famous last words, as it turned out. As she gritted her teeth, Ellen's stone pulsed, sending out a wave of pure energy around her. Wanda and Vision were thrown in opposite directions, though Ellen seized Vision in her telekinetic grip, pulling him back to her. She jammed her finger and thumb into his temples, the real Wanda feeling the pain he felt at that moment. The silver outline returned around Ellen's body._

"This is for the best," _she said earnestly, her eyes glowing pure white. A blinding flash passed across Vision's sight, and he knew no more._

* * *

Awake once more, Vision fell backwards onto his bed. His migraine had returned with a vengeance, bringing black and white spots that danced before his eyes. Vision clutched his head, blinking a few times, as both the spots and the pain slowly faded. The Mind Stone had flared to life once more, but the golden glow was slowly dying out.

In addition, Vision's memories were restored.

The android gasped as the false memories implanted in his head faded away, replaced by reality. It was as though he'd been wearing a blindfold that had only just been torn away. Ellen had attacked them. Pietro was dead. According to Thor, Loki was dead as well. Panting, Vision looked over his bed, finding Wanda, curled up in a fetal position, hyperventilating.

"Wanda?" he asked, reaching for her shoulder. Wanda flinched at his touch, but then relaxed, her breathing slowing down. Taking deep breaths, Wanda looked up at Vision, her eyes filled with grief, tears pouring down her face. Vision reached down to help her up, but her eyes suddenly glowed pure crimson. The sadness in them was gone, and hate rushed in to replace it.

"Ellen..." Wanda snarled, fury filling her voice.

* * *

The remaining Avengers had been busily going through any and all computer data seized from Flag-Smasher's strongholds. His thugs had been quite willing to talk once they'd been brought before the Joint Counter Terrorism Center, giving up the location of their base, but the only one aware of who exactly sold them their artillery was Karl Morgenthau himself. He was currently being interrogated, while the Avengers worked under the hope that he'd kept some kind of record digitally, given that he clearly wasn't very bright. So far they'd found nothing.

The search was interrupted once Maria Hill came in, bringing along a flash drive.

"This was taken a few minutes ago," she informed them, bringing up a short video clip on the projector screen. The clip was taken from Flag-Smasher's cell, during his interrogation. Without his rather tacky uniform, Morgenthau looked surprisingly normal, and the hate that had filled his eyes while he fought the Avengers seemed to be absent.

"I told you, I don't know where those weapons came from!" he shouted, struggling against the shackles that restrained him, "I didn't plan that attack willingly! I never wanted to resort to blowing people up to get my point across! She made me do it!"

"Do you honestly expect us to believe that garbage?" his interrogator deadpanned.

"Do you think I'd make up such a crazy story?!" Morgenthau snapped, "It was that girl, with the silver eyes, with the rock! She...changed me, somehow! Made me want to-"

Hill shut off the clip. They'd seen enough. Slowly, every pair of eyes turned to Ellen, who flushed slightly red from the exposure.

"What?" she asked, fumbling with her stone, "You think I brainwashed him? You think I could-"

"Nobody's saying that, Ellen," said Steve, cutting her off (and Loki before he could start swearing), "But that begs the question: Why would he blame you? He has to know that we wouldn't believe him, he's not that stupid."

"Maybe he's going for the 'So stupid, it's believable' approach," said Natasha, thoughtfully, "After all, I can't think of a reason somebody with two functioning brain cells would try to use that excuse."

Ellen visibly relaxed. "Okay, good. Maybe I should meet with him, try to figure out the game he's playing."

"I don't know," said Sam, "Maybe that's what he wants. Do you know if you've ever met him before?"

Ellen opened her mouth to respond, but the words died on her lips, as a familiar red energy surrounded her, freezing her where she stood. The other Avengers didn't even have time to blink before the woman was suddenly hurled against the wall, leaving a deep indent. Ellen Ripper grunted in pain, clasping her head with one hand, before looking up at her assailant.

"You desecrator!" screamed Wanda, her red magic surrounding her entire body. Vision came rushing down the hall, shock filling his face once he saw the scene. Wanda raised her hands, gathering her power for another attack, but was stopped by the grey blur that rushed towards her, seizing both of her wrists.

"Wanda!" Pietro cried, struggling to restrain his twin, "What our you doing?! That's our friend-"

Wanda didn't even respond, instead releasing another anguished shriek of fury as her magic flared. Pietro was thrown backwards, landing on his rear. Wanda turned back to Ellen, who'd managed to rise to her feet, and now had Loki standing beside her, armed with a dagger.

"Wanda," Loki said, gripping his knife, "Have you lost your mind?!"

"Get out of my way, you...you projection," Wanda growled, energy gathering around her hands once more.

"Wanda!" Ellen pleaded, "Calm down! I don't know what this is about-"

"Oh, you don't?!" shouted Wanda, "How about attacking us?! Brainwashing us?! Disregarding the memory of my brother with that falsehood?!" She pointed at Pietro, who gasped as though she'd struck him once again. "Do you remember that?!"

"Wanda, what the hell are you talking about?!" exclaimed Steve. He and the other Avengers has drawn their weapons, along with Maria Hill, and had them trained on Wanda.

"She attacked the compound," said Vision, stepping into the conversation, "She altered our memories somehow. Loki and Pietro are both dead. She's never been a member of our team. Wanda uncovered it in my mind."

"That can't be!" said Natasha, leveling her Widow's Bite at Wanda, "I remember meeting her! I remember-"

"Then look if you don't believe me!" shouted Wanda. Familiar tendrils of red energy snaked out from her fingertips, shooting towards Steve and Natasha, before flying into their temples. Both Avengers blinked as their eyes briefly turned crimson, before they both gasped in shock at the images they saw. More tendrils made their way over to Sam, Hill, and Rhodey, repeating the process. Soon, the newly aware Avengers turned their gaze from Wanda to Ellen.

"You little..." Rhodey growled, his armor shifting to reveal all his weapons.

"You...you can't seriously believe this, can you?!" Ellen asked, her voice shaking, "She's tricking you, controlling your minds!"

"That's a lie!" snapped Vision, showing anger for the first time. He flew forward to grab Ellen and Loki, only to pass through another of Loki's illusions. The God of Mischief, across the room, tossed a ball of gold light against the android's back, where it burst with effect of a miniature firework. Vision fell on his face, but recovered quickly. At the same time, Pietro dashed around, pushing the other Avengers back into the wall, before moving to his twin.

"Wanda, please," said Pietro, "The things you're saying, they just can't be true! Listen to me, I'm your brother..."

Wanda stared at him for a second, self-doubt starting to creep into her face. After re-experiencing Pietro's death, part of her begged to believe the person in front of her. To believe that her twin was here, alive, and safe. But she recalled the day he died, and it was too vivid to be false. She swallowed, allowing a few loose tears to drip down her face.

"No, you're not," she admitted, sadly, "He's gone...forever." She gripped the false Pietro in her magic grip, bringing him to his knees and pinning him to the floor. She stepped past him, towards where Ellen and Loki stood. The God of Mischief quickly covered her with his body.

"I don't know where these delusions come from," Loki growled, gripping his knife with one hand, and forming another sphere in the other, "But if any of you touch her, I'll kill you." His eyes turned to the remaining Avengers.

"Loki, it's okay," said Ellen, stepping past him, her body outlining in silver light. She flew into the air, diving towards Wanda. "Wanda, I can fix this, if you let me. I'm your friend, remember?" She reached towards the Maximoff with a glowing hand.

However, her hand was blocked by a red barrier forming in front of Wanda. Ellen tried to push against it to no avail, and was suddenly grabbed by the wrists by Vision. The android held her securely, increasing his density to overpower her. With her own enhanced strength, Ellen managed to wrench one of her hands free, and thrust it towards Vision's head, but it simply passed through.

"You must think we're complete fools," snarled Wanda.

"ELLEN!" Loki screamed, hurling his energy sphere towards Vision, and charging forward with his knife. However, the ball was taken out in midair by a single gunshot from Rhodey. Loki himself received two electrical charges from Natasha in his chest causing him to stumble backwards. Pietro was still frozen on the ground, unable to move thanks to Wanda, but he strained against it all the same, trying desperately to rise.

"Now, lady," said Steve, staring down the still restrained Ellen, "You have a lot of explaining to do." Maria Hill kept a pistol trained straight on the girl's head.

At that moment, Ellen Ripper's expression changed. Whereas she'd previously worn a face of worry, it was replaced by anger. She gritted her teeth as her stone necklace flared to life, blinding the assembled Avengers with bright silver light.

"You want me to talk?!" she roared, "Fine!" The silver light suddenly expanded out into a dome of pure energy, pushing all of the assembled Avengers away from her. They slammed into the walls, though Vision managed to avoid this fate by phasing through it. Hill was knocked unconscious from the force of the impact. With the Avengers incapacitated for the moment, Ellen turned to Wanda, frustration evident in her eyes.

"I don't know how you managed to undo all my work," she snapped, gathering silver energy around her hands, "But now I have to fix all of this. And you're gonna be punished for it."

She stabbed her hand forward, sending a stream of silver energy straight at Wanda. The Maximoff managed to respond with an energy blast of her own, the two meeting in midair, stopping as both attempted to push the other back into it's caster. Wanda gritted her teeth, pouring all of her energy into the beam, but it couldn't overpower Ellen's own abilities.

Free from Wanda's binds, "Pietro" looked from his twin to Ellen, unsure of exactly what to do or who to help. Deciding Wanda was wrong, clearly as the result of some kind of mental tampering, he braced himself to dash towards her, but was cut off by a high pitched whine that filled his ears. Looking over, he saw that War Machine had recovered, and currently had his sonic blaster trained on the metahuman.

"Loki," to his credit, tried to cast multiple illusions of himself, while the real one crept up on Wanda with his dagger, determined to aid his lover. Unfortunately, Steve and Natasha had seen the trick too many times for it to work now, and the God of Mischief was cut off by the spinning vibranium disk that slammed into him, his copies fading as he broke concentration. Loki was knocked on his back as the shield rebounded back to Steve. Getting up, the god gathered another ball of energy in his palm, only to be cut off by a swipe in the back from Natasha's taser baton. He spun around to attack her, but left himself open to a kick in the rear of the head from the newly airborne Falcon. Every time he turned, one Avenger always had a clear shot at his back.

Ellen, meanwhile, was not having anymore luck in the beam struggle, despite Wanda's inability to push past her attack. Vision, having floated back into the room, came at Ellen from behind, firing a low intensity beam from the Mind Stone into her back. Ellen didn't move from where she stood, but the force was enough to make her lose her focus on Wanda. The scarlet energy pushed through Ellen's beam, striking her in the chest, lifting her off her feet and slamming her into the wall. Grunting in frustration, Ellen flew at Vision, who merely allowed her to pass through his low-density body, before swinging a solid fist around and clocking her on the side of the temple. Dazed, Ellen was unable to avoid Wanda's next beam, which pushed her through the glass windows onto the compound lawn. Bouncing a few feet, Ellen drove her heels into the ground, halting her momentum. The impact swung her necklace around, exposing the backside of the stone. The surface was adorned with a simple insignia, consisting of two diagonal lines, connected by a single horizontal line.

Wanda attempted to pin Ellen down once more, but Ellen wasn't having it this time. She sent several spear-like blades of silver energy back into the compound, forcing Wanda and Vision to dive away. Ellen then grabbed Rhodey with her telekinesis, tossing the armored Avenger straight towards Steve as he battled Loki. Though the Captain avoided a direct hit, the assault distracted everyone just long enough, allowing Ellen to grab first Pietro, then Loki in her mental grip, yanking them over to her.

"This isn't over!" she shouted at the Avengers, "I'll make you understand! You'll see!" A circle of white energy began to form around the three figures, rising up from the ground. It expanded into an opaque dome, covering them, before it burst with a blinding flash of light. The Avengers shielded their eyes, and when they opened them, Ellen, Loki, and Pietro were gone.

"Well," said Rhodey, raising his face mask, "That went well."

"I can't believe this," muttered Steve, picking up his shield, "What the hell happened? How did she manage to brainwash us?"

"And where the hell did Loki and Pietro come from?!" exclaimed Sam, "Can she frickin' raise the dead?! What is she!? What-"

"I don't care," Wanda growled, glaring at the spot where Ellen had been, "I'm going to rip her heart out of her chest and-"

"Wanda!" exclaimed Vision, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Calm down. Your anger won't do any good right now."

Wanda took a deep breath. Vision was right. Ellen needed to be apprehended. Now was not a time for rage, it was a time for careful thought.

"There's just one problem," said Natasha, breaking the silence, "How are we gonna find-"

The Black Widow was cut off by an explosive burst of rainbow colored light from the sky. The luminous pillar slammed into the ground, kicking up dust clouds and filling the air with the scent of burning grass. The light faded, revealing a man standing in the center of the newly created circle of ash. He was tall, muscular, blond, covered in silvery armor, with a large cape extending from the back, and carrying a large battle hammer.

"Greeting, my friends!" called Thor, raising his arms.

"Oh, joy," said Rhodey.

* * *

 **I like to think of this chapter as "Wanda's Rage."**


	3. Chapter 3: The Truth

Chapter 3: The Truth

 **Somewhere in the Nevada Desert**

Ellen roared in fury as another bolt of silver energy destroyed the boulder, sending shards of solid rock skittering across the vast desert. This process had been going on for nearly ten minutes, with Ellen muttering to herself before letting loose with another blast, while Loki and Pietro merely stood by, too terrified of the woman to react.

"Those bastards..." Ellen grumbled, allowing the power of the silver light to fade from her hand, "I helped them! They had no right to turn on me! Stab me in the back! I gave them backup! Made them more popular! And you!" She threw her hand towards Loki and Pietro, acknowledging them for the first time. "I gave you back to them! Do they thank me? No!"

"Um, Ellen?" Loki asked, tentatively, "I think you should calm down before-"

"I brought you back!" Ellen shouted towards the sky. She wasn't even looking at the two men anymore. "You died and I remade you! I'd like to see Thor pull that off! Yet, they still throw me out"

"...what?" Pietro asked, praying he hadn't just heard what she said.

Ellen stopped raging for a moment at his words, her anger dying down. "Oh, my God," she breathed, "I'm sorry. You weren't supposed to hear that...I lost my temper..."

"We're dead...?" Loki whispered. He reached for the woman he believed was his beloved. "That can't be true, can it?"

"Just...just try to forget about it," Ellen responded, brushing his hand away, "I'll fix it, later. I've gotta find something to do about the others." She turned on her heel, walking a short distance away with her fingers on her temples. Loki and Pietro were left alone, both unable to comprehend what they'd heard. The men turned to each other, hoping his friend had the answer, and were met with naught but disappointment.

Ellen continued to mutter to herself as she tried to come up with a plan for when the Avengers found her. They would, and while she knew how to alter perception and behaviors of someone's brain without physical contact (as she'd done with the U. N. delegates), the effect was only temporary. The Avengers also possessed incredibly strong wills, meaning she'd need total focus and continuous contact to revert them back, something that she wouldn't easily get. Her opponents were skilled fighters, and now that they knew the current extent of her powers, she couldn't defeat them as easily as she had once.

Then again, she hadn't really discerned the exact limits of the Stone's powers. She regretted not practicing with it more before rushing off to join the Avengers, but she was young and eager. Who wouldn't have jumped at the chance to join with a team they'd idolized for years, albeit without their consent? It was barely after she'd learned how to manipulate minds that she'd rushed off to the compound. She'd only won their initial battle because the Avengers had been caught off guard.

Ellen sighed as she held the oval-shaped rock in her hand. This simple object had been the greatest blessing she'd ever received in her uneventful life. Stumbling across it during that fateful dig had shocked her so much, she'd thought her head might explode for a minute. As soon as she'd touched it, knowledge had assaulted her brain. Knowledge of the Stone's origins, of the Nine Realms among the stars, and best of all, the Avengers, and their amazing adventures. It was as though the Stone was aware of exactly what she wanted, and brought it accordingly. Her powers of flight, strength, telepathy, energy projection, etc had been incredible enough, but the creation of Loki, in an attempt to learn more about what he was really like, had been so much more. Pietro had been born after she'd joined the Avengers, as a gift to them, especially Wanda. Of course, they'd rejected it for reasons she couldn't fathom, even with cosmic awareness.

Ellen suddenly pulled to a stop at that thought. She needed a way to keep the Avengers back when they arrived long enough for her to fix their minds again. On her own, now that they knew her tricks better, it was unlikely that she could take on all six of them, not to mention any backup they might bring. Loki and Pietro weren't in any condition to assist her, and she wasn't sure how she could affect their minds, given that they were basically constructs. However, she'd just wished them into existence, out of pure magic, or energy. What would happen if she tried to repeat the process, but with intent and control?

Closing her eyes, Ellen Ripper put exactly what she wanted to create into her mind, her stone pendant glowing with silver light. The light diffused into her body, snaking it's way down her arms, to the tips of her fingers, before falling out of the tips. Pure silver energy fell from her hands like water, before moving to pool in front of her. The silver puddle turned pure white, and started to rise up, as though a person lay submerged inside the inch of liquid. A humanoid figure began to take shape under the silver, before the liquid suddenly fell off it's body, exposing it to the rays of the sun's light. The liquid hit the ground, fading away like the dying light of a candle.

Ellen actually gasped in shock at the sight that stood before her. Sure, it was exactly like she'd pictured in her own mental imagery, but seeing it in reality was the next step. Ellen was looking at an exact duplicate of herself, only it's entire body was white, as though it were carved out of a chunk of solid marble. It's eyes held no pupils, instead resembling smooth ping-pong balls placed into the sockets. The replica had no stone necklace, but everything else was the same. It even had her exact hair, down to the last strand. It did not breath, nor blink, as it had no need.

"Now this is more like it..." Ellen chuckled to herself, gathering more and more energy into her hands, the silver pools already starting to form. In the distance, Loki and Pietro watched with a mixture of shock and fear.

* * *

 **Avengers' Compound**

"A what?!" Rhodey asked, completely bewildered.

"A Norn Stone," replied Thor, "Mystical stones created by one of the greatest sorcerers in the Nine Realms, Karnilla of Nornheim. She attempted to use them to wage war against Asgard, only to be defeated hundreds of years ago. The Stones, unfortunately, were not all recovered, and some were lost due to their unstable magic, falling across the Nine Realms. Heimdall sensed the magic of one blaring across Midgard this morning, blaring out his vision of this planet." Thor raised his hammer. "The Stone is too dangerous to be left alone on Earth. I have come to destroy it. Can I expect your assistance?"

The remaining Avengers merely stared at him. "Well," said Wanda, "We have a slight problem..."

Thor took a look around the front lawn of the Avengers' compound for the first time, noticing quite a few things. Pieces of the glass windows lay scattered, glittering on the grass, no doubt coming from the massive gap in the pane. A massive circle had been burned into the grass, similar but different to the effect of the Bifrost. Inside, scorch marks covered the walls and floor, and numerous cracks were beaten into them. Maria Hill lay unconscious inside, and two trenches had been dug into the dirt from Ellen's feet. Sam excused himself from the conversation briefly, moving Hill off to the medical ward to deal with her concussion.

"Um," Thor asked, "Was there a battle?"

Steve rested his forehead in his hand. "It's kind of a long story, but I'll give you the abridged version. It started a couple of days ago..." He proceeded to relay his newly uncovered memories to the Thunder God, describing how Ellen had attacked the Avengers only a few days ago, tampering with their minds and convincing them she was their latest recruit. Then she had brought the false Loki and Pietro with her, having Loki act as her lover. However, Vision had somehow started to access his memories, helped by Wanda, but Ellen had escaped with the two dead people in the resulting battle.

Throughout the story, Thor's expression had run the gauntlet from shocked, to worried, to furious at every mention of Loki. He gripped Mjölnir until his knuckles turned white.

"How dare she..." he growled, "How DARE she?!"

"Calm down, big guy," said Rhodey, "We can't have you or Wanda going nuts while we're trying to bring this chick in."

Thor glanced at Wanda, his anger fading at the sight. Though the two weren't exactly friends, they'd both lost brothers they'd deeply cared about. Both of their deceased brothers had been insulted by Ellen's use of their identities. If Wanda, who'd had nobody else besides her twin for nearly her entire life, could keep herself calm at this desecration, Thor definitely could. He relaxed his muscles, and Wanda gave a nod of approval at the action. Rage wouldn't bring Ellen to justice.

"So, do you believe that Ellen's pendant might be the Norn Stone?" asked Vision.

"It would explain her abilities," Thor responded, "If it is, the power she's demonstrated thus far is just the beginning. Her mortal mind is barely starting to access the Stone's powers. Even now, we're unsure of it's exact limits. It's apparently powerful enough to give her some kind of cosmic awareness, which would explain how she even knew about Loki and the younger Maximoff. She likely formed the two of them from her knowledge, shaping pure magic into sentient beings."

"There's more," Natasha called from the computer, "I looked up that symbol on the side of the rock, and it's an old Norse Rune: Sewels, meaning 'Wholeness.'"

"'Wholeness?'" exclaimed Steve, "What does wholeness have to do with the power to brainwash the Avengers?"

"Depends on what makes her feel whole," answered Thor, "Her version of wholeness."

"She wanted to be one of us," Sam said suddenly, "Think about it. The Stone gave her the power to fight alongside us. She made us think we'd accepted her freely a long time ago. She apparently brainwashed that Flag-Smasher freak to attack the U.N. so we'd have someone to fight. And have you noticed how people seemed oddly grateful after that fiasco?"

"Well, the way the U.N. delegates thanked us did seem a little extravagant..." said Natasha, thoughtfully.

"Exactly. What if she was brainwashing them to do that? Trying to improve our public relations, or something? It's like Wanda's powers on steroids."

"She sounded concerned when Vision started having those migraines," Rhodey muttered, his hand on the chin of his armor, "But not for him. She sounded like she was covering up a lie that was about to get exposed. She was afraid for herself."

Vision put a finger on the Mind Stone. "It was only because of this," he said, "The Mind Stone is older than the Norn Stone. You said it was older than the universe itself. It must've somehow started to unravel the spell she put on me."

"But she hasn't unlocked the full potential of it?" Steve asked Thor. The Thunder God nodded in affirmation. "Okay. We need to destroy it before she does. If she grows any stronger than she is now, soon we won't be able to touch her."

"I agree. Unfortunately, that leads to our other problem," said Rhodey, "How exactly our we supposed to find her? Thor, you said Heimdall couldn't see this planet anymore?"

"Not clearly," replied the god.

"I think," Steve started, "I may have a solution to that problem." He reached into his pocket, pulling out his latest cell phone, before searching through his contacts and selecting one. "Hello, Tony? Listen, I need a favor..."

* * *

 **Some Time Later**

Since he met Thor, Tony Stark had attempted to learn what he could about magic, gathering data from scans taken by the Iron Man suit, and later from various artifacts he'd encountered. Though he still didn't exactly believe in the "If they be worthy" on Mjölnir, there was no denying that Thor's powers, along with those of the Bifrost, the Tesseract, and the Mind Stone, were things science couldn't easily explain. Even after all those years, he'd barely begun to scratch the surface of it, and he wouldn't be winning any magic discovering Nobel Prize in the foreseeable future.

On the bright side, he had learned how to discern loose magic in the atmosphere. Ellen's little outburst had left a pretty big deposit of magic just floating around. Once he had the unique signature, he was able to use Stark International satellites to search the globe for any other hot spots of the same kind of magic. It only took a few minutes to find another cloud of it, gathering in the Nevada Desert. With their destination in mind, the Avengers piled into the Quinjet, firing up it's engines and setting off to bring Ellen Ripper in. Tony denied an invitation to join them, mostly on the basis that he currently did not possess a non-damaged Iron Man suit. With Thor backing them up, it was unlikely they'd need him anyway.

Inside the advancing Quinjet, tensions were far higher than they had been during the morning flight. Natasha and Steve, parked in the pilot and copilot's seats, respectively, appeared completely relaxed on the surface. A keen observer, on the other hand, would notice small details, such as the sharp way Steve inhaled, and the tight grip Natasha kept on the controls, causing her veins to bulge ever so slightly, that would give away the truth. Both had been thrust into a situation that was unprecedented, even for them, and nerves could affect even the most iron willed Avengers. Even with their experience, they were not trained to deal with something like this.

Sam had take a position on the floor, leaning against the wall. Every so often, he took a quiet glance at his wrist console, checking the status of his equipment, or examining his pistols. Rhodes, on the other hand, stood off to the side, his armor covering everything except for his face. He appeared to be mentally preparing himself. Finally, Vision assumed a cross-legged stance, trying to find a comfortable meditation position. While all three had been on Avengers missions before, this was a whole new level, even after Ultron. Not to mention they'd all spent the past few days with a woman who'd been altering their minds, something that can't exactly be processed quickly. As such, their biggest concern was trying to ingest the situation at hand, so as to avoid any distraction in the upcoming battle.

Wanda sat quietly on her bench, not looking at anyone, or even messing with her own magic anymore. A few minutes ago, she'd been bristling with rage, planning the exact way she would make Ellen Ripper suffer for dishonoring the death of her brother, rage driving down any other feelings. Unfortunately, rage tends to burn out if it's allowed to exist for too long, and apprehension had rushed to fill the gaps in Wanda's heart. She hated Ellen, but she knew that the chances of her facing off against the "construct" pretending to be her brother nearly certain. During the fight in the compound, she'd been so furious she couldn't even focus on the present altercation, but this time, she'd be aware. Even if it wasn't Pietro, and she knew that for a fact, that did nothing to calm her. She'd have to hurt the image of the person she'd loved more than anything in this world.

Thor ceased his pacing, setting down besides her without a word. He held Mjölnir by it's handle, casually turning the hammer over, before flipping it into the air with a metallic rushing sound. He repeated the action several times, his other hand tugging on his red cap, pinching it between his fingers. These actions didn't go unnoticed by the Scarlet Witch.

"You as well?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," the Asgardian replied, quietly, "Loki...he committed some of the worst atrocities in Asgardian history. He attempted genocide for the sake of approval. He tried to take over this planet, killing dozens, out of nothing more than childish spite. Yet...I still loved him, even after all that, his true parentage be damned. He was my brother, in spirit if not in blood."

Wanda nodded. Pietro, obviously, had never gone to those limits, but siblings fought. It was just an inevitable fact of life. However, not matter how much they argued, or how many times they cruelly insulted each other, her love for him never waned. He was her other half, and the one constant she'd had over her entire lifetime. The adjustment period after his death was still going, and Wanda still had nights where she'd wake up in intense, hollow pain, longing for her twin.

"I just..." she muttered, "I'm not sure how to deal with this. My mind is aware that he's dead. The construct wearing his face is just that. It doesn't even have a soul. But the face, the voice, the words...it's all him. What if I have to fight him?" She placed on hand against her forehead. "And if we want to win here, even if he won't aid Ellen, he'll have to cease to exist."

Thor said nothing for a few minutes, merely staring at the hammer in sitting in his hands. Eventually, he raised one hand, placing it softly on Wanda's shoulder.

"I don't have the answers, Lady Maximoff," he said, "But, if you need a friend, or just someone to converse with, once this is over...I'd be more than willing to do so." New thoughts entered his mind, and his quickly withdrew the hand. "I-I mean, I know you're close with Vision, and I didn't mean to insult him, or yourself, with that offer, I swear..."

Wanda felt a genuine smile, albeit small, begin to creep onto her face, as she placed her own hand on Thor's shoulder. She didn't speak a word, but the actions communicated more than enough of her response. Thor may not have been an expert at comfort, but the gesture was appreciated all the same.

Silence one more dominated the Quinjet. The absolute dearth of sound, any sound, was torturous, forcing every Avenger's mind back to their individual apprehensions. Finally, Sam decided to break it, before somebody else screamed their head off.

"You do know what this means, right?" he asked from the jet floor. Steve glanced at him from the copilot's seat. "If there's a build-up of energy just sitting there, it means she's preparing something. She knows we're coming, and she's gearing up for the inevitable fight."

"Not surprising," said Natasha, as she directed the metallic bird downwards, "She's not unintelligent. It's a logical assumption that we'd follow her."

"Do we have a plan?" asked Thor.

"I can try to incapacitate her via her mind," Wanda volunteered. Thor, Steve, and Natasha all glanced at her, uneasy looks on their faces. "Not like that. I'll just force her unconscious or something. But we'll have to pin her down."

"And we need to destroy that stupid rock," chimed in Rhodey.

"The Norn Stone isn't indestructible," said Thor, "But our first task will be to separate it from this Lady Ripper."

"Well, that may or may not be-" Natasha began, before being interrupted.

That interruption took the form of a blizzard of silver energy blasts assaulting the Quinjet, coming completely out of the blue. The entire craft shifted to the side as Natasha wrestled with the controls, and the Avengers all frantically gripped something. The Quinjet swerved repeatedly, but one of the blasts eventually found it's mark on one of the ship's repulsor engines. Smoke billowed from the impact point, flames blazing away at the metal.

The Avengers, knowing what was coming, braced themselves for the inevitable impact, Natasha pulling up to try and land on the craft's underside at least. Thankfully, the area they were in was mostly wide open, leaving them Quinjet to slam into the sand, sliding a good distance before coming to a screeching halt.

Inside, all the Avengers remained frozen, gripping their anchors as hard as they possibly could.

Steve finally broke the silence. "Well...we've had rougher landings before," he muttered as he unstrapped himself.

"Glad I wasn't around for those," said Sam.

Natasha pressed a button, opening the back ramp of the Quinjet as she snatched up her pistols. She took up her fighting stance, aiming out the newly revealed entrance to the jet, alongside the rest, waiting for Ellen, Loki, and Pietro to launch their attack.

The sight that actually awaited them was rather unexpected.

Loki and Pietro were nowhere in sight, leaving only Ellen. Of course, alongside her stood approximately a dozen...figures, resembling white marble statues of the true Ellen. Their eyes were blank, but they were clearly animate, holding their hands out in the same threatening gesture Ellen used when firing her silver blasts. The true Ellen Ripper stood in the center of her clones, her arms folded across her chest, a smug smile fully materialized on her face. For the first few seconds, none of the Avengers could even speak, shocked by the spectacle in front of them.

Ellen waved her hands. "Now, now, girls," she ordered, "We schooled them, let's calm down." The clones immediately lowered their hands. Ellen turned back to the Avengers. "Come on out! We've got a lot to discuss."

The Avengers stepped out into the open, if only to escape the disadvantage, but never moved out of their attack stances, or lowered their weapons. Ellen positively squealed at the sight of Thor.

"Thor! Oh my goodness, I'm a huge fan, and I..." She stopped when she noticed how hard he was gripping his hammer, before turning to the others and noticing how tense they were as well. "You guys aren't going to be rational in this discussion, are you?"

"That depends on your definition of rational," Wanda spat, red energy coalescing around her fingers.

"Wanda, come on," said Ellen, condescension fully audible in her voice, "I forgave you for your little outburst back at the compound, and now we can-"  
She stopped as Wanda tried to lunge at the woman, but was stopped by Vision.

"Ellen Ripper, if that is indeed your real name," said Natasha, "I don't usually say this, but you're under arrest."

"For what?" asked Ellen, genuinely confused, "I'm an Avenger. I didn't do anything."

"First of all," Steve responded, "You're not an Avenger. You made us think you were one. Second of all, you coerced a man to attack the United Nations. That's terrorism."

"Not to mention trespassing on Avengers compound, and assault on all of us except Thor," chimed in Sam, "Believe me, we all have the memories to testify against you."

"You have desecrated the memories of Loki Odinson and Pietro Maximoff," said Thor, "And you carry a dangerous artifact."

Ellen yawned, her attention not focused on the Avengers at all. "God, without me, you guys are so stuck up," she groaned, "Guess we'll have to fix that." She raised one hand.

Her clones, which had remained inert throughout the whole conversation, suddenly sprang to life once more, raising their fists and gathering silver energy. Anticipating what was to come, the team of Avengers dived to the sides, avoiding the hail of pure energy bolts that came flying straight at them. The initial attack missed it's targets, instead battering the grounded Quinjet. Reaching safety, Wanda, Vision, and Thor immediately responded with their own attacks, sending blasts of lightning, combined with red, and yellow light. A few of the fake Ellens were launched backwards by their assault, but most were able to escape into the sky.

The true Ellen rejoined the fight, sending a concentrated beam of silver energy towards Captain America. Steve was able to block it with his shield, but the sheer force of the attack was enough to pin him to the spot where he stood. However, before Ellen could make another move, an electrical charge from Natasha's Widow's Bite found it's mark in her leg, followed by a tossed Mjölnir coming up and slamming into her chest, knocking her out of the sky.

Of course, the clones took that opportunity to try and dog pile the Avengers, only to be smacked aside by a returning Mjölnir.

"These clones are mere constructs!" Thor shouted, bashing aside one as it tried to grab him by the neck, "They are soulless! Hold no force back against them!"

"My kinda fight," said Rhodey, smirking under his helmet. Plates under his arm armor unfolded, revealing an array of missile launchers. These were fired at incredible velocities, punching into the swarm of approaching Ellen clones, small explosions bursting all around the Avengers. Though the copies weren't immediately blown apart, the ordinance was clearly enough to stagger them, leaving them open to more blasts from Vision's Mind Stone.

The true Ellen, meanwhile, stumbled to her feet, rubbing her chest where Mjölnir had struck. There was no time for recuperation, as several bolts of lightning came down towards her. Ellen barely managed to raise a force field in time, the bolts ricocheting off the purple dome. Ellen cast her gaze skyward, observing Thor bearing down upon her. Steve had left the fight with the clones as well, coming at her with his shield raised. Lowering her barrier, Ellen lashed out with silver blasts, only to have them deflected by hammer and shield.

"Lady Ripper!" roared Thor, raising his hammer, "Surrender the Norn Stone!" He brought the weapon down in a devastating overhead smash, which Ellen nimbly avoided.

"First of all, this is mine. It's none of your business what I do with it. Second, God, you should change your name to Bore," Ellen groaned, sparing a glance to redirect Steve's thrown shield, "You of all people should be thanking me, along with Wanda. I brought your brother back!" She struck out with a rising punch, catching Thor on the chin. The Asgardian only stumbled, but it was enough for Ellen to seize him in a telekinetic grip, pushing him back into a large boulder in the distance, with an audible crack. "You could ask him yourself!"

She pointed over to the side, where Pietro and Loki stood behind a rock, observing the ongoing battle. Both faces were filled with shock, and neither looked like he was in any position of interfere. Thor spared a glance at them, but seeing as they weren't part of the fight, it didn't matter. The important thing was taking down Ellen. He turned back to her, rage evident on his features.

"That is not my brother," he snarled, pointing Mjölnir at the woman, "That is a construct of magic in his shape, mocking his memory!" He flew straight towards Ellen, hammer pulled back for a smashing attack, but she released a crescent-shaped wave of energy that forced him back.

"I raise your brother from the dead, and all you do is complain?!" Ellen snapped, clearly irritated, "You people are just ungrateful-"

Ellen's voice cut off suddenly, her hands flying to the side of her head. She screamed as tendrils of red energy made their way into her brain, her eyes glowing the same color. Wanda had managed to sneak up behind her, and was currently forcing her way into Ellen's mind.

"You've obviously never experienced real grief," she said, "Otherwise, you'd understand your own crime."

Ellen's Norn Stone suddenly flared with silver light, engulfing her entire body. The silver pushed the red energy away from Ellen, despite Wanda pouring on all of the power she had to try and take control. A furious Ellen spun around, sending a devastating blast of silver energy straight into Wanda's chest. The Maximoff twin was sent bouncing across the sand, coming to rest a good distance from her attacker.

"Stay outta my head!" roared Ellen. She raised her hand, planning to seize Wanda with her own telekinetic grip, but an interruption came in the form of Vision, flying into her side, slamming her with his maximum density. Ellen Ripper was thrown off her feet, and thus unable to block Sam, who swooped past her, delivering a kick to the side of the head. Vision reached for Ellen's Stone, intending to crush it with his Vibranium grip, but one of her clones came to the rescue, tackling the synthezoid away from it's master.

Meanwhile, the battle between the rest of the Avengers and the Ellen clones was not proceeding as smoothly as hoped. The clones were extremely durable, taking gunshots and even missiles in stride. For all the fighting that had gone on, they'd only managed to put down a single one of the copies with a shot from Rhodey's grenade launcher.

Natasha ducked under a punch from one of the clones, retaliating with a roundhouse kick to the stomach, followed by a stab of her taser baton. The lifeless body was driven back, stumbling, only to find itself on the receiving end of a barrage of bullets from War Machine's chain gun. The bullets ripped holes in the marble white skin, and Natasha snatched up her pistol, firing one final bullet in between the eyes. The Ellen clone staggered, before face-planting straight into the sand. Her body disintegrated, leaving only flakes of white light in the air.

Neither Avenger had time to relax, unfortunately, as two more clones pounced on them from behind. Their super strong grip actually managed to dent Rhodey's armor as he struggled to wrestle her off him. Natasha tried to get her Widow's Bite into position, but the clone twisted both of her arms, coming dangerously close to breaking them. Suddenly, both clones were seized in the grip of red energy, yanking them off of Rhodey and Natasha. Wanda telekinetically raised both clones skyward, where one was sent packing by Steve's thrown shield, and the other took Mjölnir to the stomach, sending them bouncing across the sand.

Natasha panted as she turned to her rescuer. Wanda's eye was already starting to blacken, and she had two large cuts across her face, covered with sand, and another stretching across her midriff. Looking to the others, Natasha noticed that they, too, were suffering from a number of injuries, with the exceptions of Rhodey, and Vision, who currently engaged the true Ellen.

"This isn't exactly going in our favor," she deadpanned, loading a fresh clip into her handgun, turning to face the still living Ellen clones.

"Yeah, I kinda noticed," Steve retorted, blocking another silver blast with his shield.

"Well, we'd better come up with some kinda game changer," said Sam, as he extended his wings, "Before we get our asses kicked." He soared straight toward the Ellen clones, missiles firing from his pack.

* * *

During the battle, Loki and Pietro had continued to observe, listening to every word spoken in between fist cuffs, particularly those relating to them. At the moment, the two were currently attempt to ingest the revelations about their identities.

"...We died?" Loki breathed, leaning on a rock for support.

"That's...that's not possible..." Pietro stammered, "I remember..." He froze, horror creeping onto his face.

"Loki..." he breathed, "I don't remember my life."

"Neither do I," replied the trickster.

"I just...I have every fiber of my being telling me my name is Pietro Maximoff," Pietro continued, "But...I can't remember details of my childhood with Wanda. I know things that happened, but it's like..."

"Like a memory of somebody else's life," said Loki, "I remember things that I...Loki...did, but I can't see myself doing them through my own eyes. I never noticed it before."

"Because she made sure we didn't. She made us to serve her own purpose, building us from the memories of Wanda and the others. She couldn't give us the memories of our lives because we were dead. She never knew the real ones."

The two men stared as Ellen slowly started to gain ground over the Avengers. Another attempt to mentally stun her with Wanda's magic led to Thor being hurled across the desert, Vision getting blasted in three places at once, and Wanda and Natasha having their heads painfully clocked together.

"If she wins, we'll go back to what it was before," said Loki, "She'll probably make us forget this ever happened."

"Then she'll brainwash the Avengers again..." said Pietro, "And everyone else she needs in order to cover it up."

The two dead men shared a look, as an unspoken idea crosses both of their minds.

"Could we...?" Pietro asked, unable to finish.

"We might fade away," said Loki, "If Ellen brought us into existence...I don't know if we'll stay alive when her powers are gone."

Pietro looked down at his feet for a few seconds. "Well," he finally declared, "We already died once."

* * *

The battle seemed hopeless. Two more Ellen clones had fallen, but the rest continued to attack with renewed vigor. Thor was pinned down under three, suffering repeated punches between the eyes, Rhodey's chain gun had been ripped clean off, and Natasha had an arm that was probably broken. The others were less injured, but barely making any progress.

Sam reloaded his pistols for what felt like the thousandth time, firing more bullets at the speeding Ellen clones. Two turned around try and knock him out of the sky, only to be hit with electrical charges from Natasha's remaining Widow's Bite. Sam dove forward, smacking both clones away with his wings. Across the battlefield, Rhodey trained his sonic blaster on the clones attacking Thor, throwing them off long enough for Steve to shove them away with his shield. The thunder god staggered to his feet, before pointing with Mjölnir blasting the three clones with lightning. Unfortunately, only one fell from the attack.

"How long...can we keep...this up?" Thor panted, wiping the blood dripping down from his nose.

"As long as we need to," said Natasha, her wounded arm bound by a makeshift sling composed of a grappling rope.

The true Ellen was fighting both Wanda and Vision, both desperately trying to destroy the Stone. Wanda, her rage growing from both repeatedly failures and the throbbing pain in her skull, telekinetically whipped up a small sandstorm around Ellen, hoping to blind her long enough for Vision to swoop in and seize the dangerous artifact. For a second, it seemed to work, as Ellen started to thrash and cough like a wounded animal. Vision swooped into a steep dive, reaching out for the Norn Stone.

Unfortunately, the attack stopped there. Ellen roared with fury as she swept her arm out in an arc, sending out a dome of pure energy. Vision was unable to adjust his density in time, and was knocked away again. Wanda tried to seize the Stone with her own energy, but Ellen had recovered and blasted her off her feet. She then sent another silver beam into Vision, blasting him into a boulder with a cry of pain, before turning back to the weakened Maximoff.

"You..." she snarled, eyes glowing with rage. Wanda raised one hand, which Ellen seized, crushing it with all of her strength. Wanda screamed, her magic fading as she lost focus. "If it hadn't been for you, I would've made the world a better place! You just had to go and destroy everything I've built because you think I'm not good enough! And for that, you're gonna be punished!"

She grabbed Wanda's hair, pulling the woman up to face her. "What you need is some kind of scar. Some mark that you'll see every time you look in the mirror. And when I'm done with you, every time you see it, your brain will remind you that I am your superior, and you'll never-!"

Ellen never got to finish her threat, as a speeding grey blur smashed into her from the side. She was knocked off her feet and onto her rear in the sand, while Wanda vanished into the streak of grey. The blur pulled to a stop a few feet away, revealing Pietro holding the woman he'd believed to be his sister in his arms. Wanda, shocked, looked at him as he set her down.

"What...why...?" she stammered.

"I am so sorry, Miss Maximoff," said Pietro, before taking off towards Ellen.

The woman had only just climbed to her feet, only to be knocked off them once again when Pietro hit her a second time. What she did manage to do was reach out with a telekinetic grip, seizing Pietro and freezing him in his tracks. Ellen's livid expression gave way to surprise once she saw the form of her enemy.

"Pietro?!" she exclaimed, "What are you doing?! I'm trying to deal with these-!"

Ellen was cut off again as a burst of golden light suddenly smashed against her back, pitching her face first into the sand. She turned her head around to find Loki, his hands filled with more gold spheres.

"Loki, sweetie," Ellen snapped, "Think very hard about what you're doing right now."

"I have," replied the trickster. He hurled another sphere into Ellen, knocking her backwards.

Vision and Wanda could only watch in shock as Ellen's two creations proceeded to decimate her. Every time Ellen tried to hit Loki, Pietro would throw her off, and any attempt at pinning down Pietro would be thwarted by Loki's illusions. Ellen grew more and more flustered with each blow.

"Why are you doing this?!" she screamed, panic flowing into her voice, "I made you! Loki, I loved-!"

"Because your vision isn't the way things are," Pietro responded simply.

Frantically, Ellen waved her arms towards herself. The clones suddenly abandoned their battles with the Avengers, flying up into a massive formation. But before the clones could fly to the aid of their master, they found themselves caught in a massive bubble of red energy, courtesy of Wanda.

"Stop them!" she shouted, "I can't hold them back for long!"

Her comrades obliged. Thor and Vision immediately pummeled the crowd of copies with energy blasts, accompanied by bullets from Natasha, Rhodey, and Sam, as well as Loki's energy spheres. Steve tossed a grenade into the mix. Cracks began to climb up their ivory colored bodies, and within the space of a few seconds, every single Ellen clone crumbled into dust.

Of course, Ellen had immediately attempted to blast Wanda off her feet to save the copies. Unfortunately for her, this meant taking her eyes off of Pietro for one critical second. That second was all he needed to ram his elbow into her back, knocking her off her feet. He reached down, snatching the length of chain holding the Norn Stone, and flung it to the ground, several feet away from Ellen.

"Vision!" he called to the nearest Avenger, "Destroy the Stone!"

"NO!" Ellen screamed, attempting to dive for the Stone, only to be pinned down by Wanda. Vision flew straight down to it, increasing the density of his foot as he did so, before bringing it down on the Norn Stone with a resounding crack, breaking it into minute chunks. Silver light briefly gathered around the fragments, before drifting and fading away like fog.

Ellen screamed once again, the wail sounding as though she were being stabbed. Wanda released her, allowing the woman to leap to the inert pieces of her priceless treasure. Ellen scooped up the chunks of rock, desperately trying to put them back together, tears pouring down her face as she continued to scream. She didn't even notice the muscles the Stone had given her slowly fade from her body, leaving a woman in her mid-twenties with an average build.

The remaining Avengers walked over to the scene, Thor stumbling, and merely looked on as the woman fumbled with the rocks. Wanda and Thor turned around to see their saviors, only to see a dreadful sight.

Loki and Pietro were fading. Their feet were already completely gone, and the disappearing wave was slowly advancing up their torso. The two merely smiled, not even bothering to speak as they were consumed. Thor reached out to Loki, and Wanda tried to seize her brother, but to no avail.

They were gone.


	4. Chapter 4: Picking up the Pieces

Chapter 4: Picking Up the Pieces

Captain Steve Rogers strolled into the "interrogation" room, file folder in hand. Thanks to Dr. Cho's Cradle, most of his injuries were basically gone, with the exception of a few bruises, and those would fade quickly. The situation was similar with the rest of the team, with the exception of Natasha's arm, Wanda's hand, and Thor's broken nose, but those would heal in time.

At the moment, Steve's goal was to resolve his own curiosity concerning a certain prisoner. She'd already been detained, and charges were being leveled against her. Natasha hadn't even had to step in during the interrogation. Thus, it was his personal will, rather than need, that drove Steve to park his rear down in the chair facing the woman, her handcuffed arms planted on the table in front of her.

"So," said Steve, casually flipping through her file, "Sarah King. Perfectly fine name. Yet, you felt the need to name yourself after Ellen Ripley." He suppressed a chuckle at the thought. "Believe it or not, I have seen Alien."

"Go to Hell," Sarah spat, hate fully evident in her voice.

"Did you alter our perception so we wouldn't notice?" Steve asked, in an attempt at an ice breaker question, "Or are we in dire need of increased attention spans?"

"What does it matter?" Sarah growled, looking down at the floor, "You won. You're better than me. You're all better than me. Go ahead. Have a good laugh."

Steve's expression softened. He hadn't expected her to be this angry, more solemn after her defeat. He guessed she wouldn't be making any small talk, so he decided to switch gears.

"Because that's not what my job is about," he stated, plainly. He believed it. "Why do you keep bringing that up?"

Sarah glared at his face. "That's why you're ruining my life, isn't it? That's why you refused my offers. Because you couldn't stand having someone so powerful on the team. Because you were jealous. So you took everything away from me."

Steve's eyes widened. "Do you honestly believe that?" Sarah nodded. "Then you really are a complete idiot."

Sarah sat up a bit. It was clear she hadn't expected the conversation to take this direction.

"First of all, you were never part of this team. Not in reality. Second, we do this job because it's the right thing to do. Because there are things that authorities can't deal with out there that we have the ability to. Because we have the power to save lives. To fight battles that most people can't." Steve stared Sarah down, conviction showing through his eyes. "That's what it means to be an Avenger. Clearly, that's something you don't understand."

Sarah had been initially surprised, but she buzzed off Steve's last words, slouching back down in her seat. "Yeah, right."

Steve rolled his eyes. "I'd like to see you disprove that," he offhandedly remarked, not expecting a response.

However, Sarah snapped back at him. "You know why I did what i did? I worshipped you people. Everybody else was always talking about getting jobs, getting married, normal life shit, but I wanted to be one of you! Then I found that rock, and I finally had the power I needed!" Sarah's face was red with fury now, and her fists were clenched so hard her knuckles turned white. Her voice was shaking despite all her efforts. "So I signed up! I took the risks! I made people like you more! I brought Pietro back! I gave you everything, AND IT STILL WASN'T ENOUGH!"

"Exactly how does any of that excuse what you did?" Steve retorted, not raising his own voice, "Not to mention you didn't bring Pietro back to life. You created a magic duplicate of him."

"I had to fit in!" Sarah screamed, slamming her hands on the table, "And what's the difference between Pietro and what I gave you?! I gave you the real Loki!"

"The _real_ Loki? What the hell-"

"You didn't understand him! He only did those things because of how badly treated he was by you, and Thor, and Odin, and everybody! He needed to be loved! I had cosmic awareness! I knew him better than you ever did! If I'd been there, Loki would've laid down and given up before that portal even opened, because I loved him! If-"

Steve slammed his own fist down on the table, creating a metallic "Thoom!" that reverberated throughout the room. Sarah shut her mouth at the action, fear starting to creep into her face.

"Loki murdered dozens of innocent people out of spite," said Steve, "He wasn't just 'misunderstood.' He was a monster. You'd never met him in real life. Seeing his actions through some kind of awareness...It's not the same thing. Thinking that your 'love' would've stopped him is just idiotic."

He continued. "You insulted Wanda's brother, and the sacrifice he made. The world you were making for us...It was nothing more than an fantasy. A delusion. A lie. We can't spend our lives denying reality or cheating it with magic. That's just willful ignorance."

Steve stood up. "Don't pretend that anything you did was for us. It was all for you. I came here today because I wanted to know why you violated our minds. Now I have my answer." He looked straight into Sarah's eyes. "It's because you wanted to be one of us without understanding what it entails. You don't understand grief. You don't understand personal loss. You don't understand our experiences. You only think you do because the Stone showed them to you." He turned, opening the door. "And you never will." The door slammed shut, leaving Sarah alone.

* * *

Wanda quietly held her own hand, wrapped in a plaster cast, as she stared out the window from her bed. As with the others, most of her injuries were healed, with the exception of the hand, and her black eye. She'd gotten through worse physical pain than this, of course. Emotional pain was a different story. Her eyes were still red, but the tears had long since ceased to flow.

A knock at the door drew her attention. Turning, she saw Thor, standing somberly by the entrance, holding Mjölnir limply by one hand. He gestured to the edge of her bed, wordlessly asking for permission. Wanda nodded on reflex, her emotions still too numb to truly care. The thunder god sat down on her side, his hammer slipping out of his fingers to plop onto the carpet.

Wanda was barely paying attention, but if she had, she'd have noticed Thor's current state was similar to her own. He stared ahead, but clearly not focused on anything actually in front of him. His hands made no random movements, as one usually does when nothing important is occurring. His eyes were red from his own crying, and the dried tears were still visible on his face. Thor looked less like a god than a grieving man. Of course, Wanda had expected this, and even if she had actually seen it, would've had no reaction.

Thor, desperate for something to distract him from his own misery, ventured to break the silence. "It...isn't any easier the second time, is it?"

Wanda shook her head. "We had them again...they helped...and then we lost them again..."

Thor's voice cracked as he tried to respond. "But at least they...they...d-did what they..." He couldn't finish it. He covered his eyes with both hands, but did not sob anymore. He'd already exhausted himself doing so. Wanda put her good hand on his back, but said no words. She was barely avoiding the tipping point herself.

The two Avengers' attention was drawn to a fizzing noise behind them, causing them to turn. The source turned out to be Vision, who'd passed through the wall into the room. He'd forgone his usual attire, wearing a simple button shirt and kakis, and his expression proclaimed his own nervousness.

"Uh..." he started, tripping over his words "I know you told me not to, Wanda, but I thought...in this case..."

"It's alright," Wanda mumbled, motioning for him to join the pair.

The synthezoid sat down next to Thor, who'd recovered from his brief relapse. "So..." Vision said, clearly searching for the proper words, "Is there...anything you two want to talk about?"

Thor buried his face again, so Wanda took over. "It's foolish, I know. It's not like they were even real. They didn't have Pietro or Loki's souls...but somehow..."

"It feels like we lost them all over again," said Thor, his shoulders slumped.

Vision took a deep breath before he began to speak again. "I...don't have any real experience in grief, or comforting, not to mention that I still don't fully comprehend emotions. I apologize for that. But...Those two knew what Ellen-sorry, Sarah-was doing to us. They knew...they would cease if they helped it. Maybe..." he mulled his thoughts over before he continued, "Even if it wasn't the real Pietro, or the real Loki, they were real in their own way. They were willing to give their lives for us...That has to have some meaning."

Wanda and Thor both turned to him, and Vision quickly clarified. "I know, Sarah created them for purely selfish reasons. I don't believe she did it intentionally, but maybe, somehow, she managed to bring some of the good in them back. You saw how different the clones of her were. They had no brains, no...souls, I guess you would say. The Loki and Pietro still had free will." He looked down at his feet. "My point is that, I don't believe it's foolish to mourn for them. My word probably doesn't mean much in this situation, but...I don't think either of you are wrong."

Neither Thor nor Wanda spoke, but smiles eventually found their way to their faces. Wanda moved to hug Vision, briefly catching him off guard, but he decided to just let it happen.

Grief wouldn't last forever. And the fake versions of Loki and Pietro did have one thing in common with the true version: They had died as heroes.

* * *

 **And that's the end of this short story. My goal here was to have Ellen be a sort of Mary Sue parody, while also parodying the Loki redemption fandom. Heavily inspired by the Justice League episode, Legends. Not calling out any specific fics here, or trying to criticize any specific authors, this is just for fun. As always, read, review, and enjoy.**


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